The earliest form of religion on the face of the earth was =Monotheism=, so called from the Greek _monos_, alone, only, and _Theos_, God; therefore signifying a belief in, and the worship of, one Only God. The word =Religion= is derived from the Latin _religare_, to bind. Hence, Religion implies obedience, submission, and an acknowledgment of certain orthodox doctrines regarding our duty to a Supreme Power. =Mosaism=, otherwise =Judaism=, denotes the religion of the Jews as enjoined in the laws of Moses. But even during that favoured period when God manifested Himself in various ways to the children of Israel, Idolatry prevailed. Let us consider what this word =Idolatry= really means. _Idol_ is a contraction of the Greek _eidolon_, the diminutive of _eidos_, a figure, an image, or that which is seen, derived from the verb _eidein_, to see; while =Idolater= is made up of the two Greek words, _eidolon_, and _latres_, one who pays homage, a worshipper. An Idolater, therefore, is a worshipper of images, or that which he sees. The Israelites, who prostrated themselves before the Golden Calf, were strictly Idolaters; so were the Egyptians, who worshipped the sun, the moon, the ox, the dog, the cat, the ibis, and the ichneumon; but the Greeks and Romans were scarcely Idolaters, because the mythological deities they worshipped were unseen--as unseen as is the True God Himself. Neither were they =Pagans=, which term, from the Latin _paganus_, a countryman, a peasant, based upon _pagus_, a country, a district, has nothing whatever to do with religion. The Greeks and Romans were, in fact, =Polytheists=, and their religion was =Polytheism=, signifying, in accordance with the Greek _polus_, many, and _Theos_, God, a belief in more gods than one. The more general description of the religion of the ancients is comprised in the term =Mythology=, written in the Greek _muthologia_, from _muthos_, a fable, and _logos_, a discourse.
Alluding to the =Fire Worshippers= of the East, who fall prostrate in adoration of the sun, it should be noted that these do not actually worship the sun, but God, whom they believe to reside in it. This Sun or Fire Worship, the religion of the =Parsees=, otherwise denominated =Zoroastrianism=, was introduced into Persia by Zoroaster about five hundred years before the Christian era. In short, the Parsees are the descendants of those who, in Persia, adhered to the Zoroastrian religion after the Moslem or Mahommedan conquest of their country, whence they were at length driven by Moslem persecution to migrate to India. The =Brahmins= are the priests or higher caste of the Hindoos, who, like the Burmese, the inhabitants of the adjacent country, =Burmah=, claim to be descended from _Brahma_, the supreme deity of the Hindoo religion. The =Buddhists= are the followers of Buddha, a Hindoo sage who founded the doctrine of =Buddhism= in the sixth century B.C. =Mahommedanism= is the religion founded by Mahommed, or Mahomet (born 571, died 632). The term =Koran=, or more properly _Al Koran_, “The Koran,” which constitutes the Bible of the Mahommedans, is Arabic for a “Reading,” a “thing to be read.” The native name of the Mahommedan religion is =Islam=, resignation and obedience to God, founded upon the verb _aslama_, to bend, to submit, to surrender. The Mahommedans of Turkey and Persia usually bear the style of =Mussulmans=, a corruption and the plural of the Arabic _muslim_, rendered into English as =Moslem=, and meaning a true believer, or one who holds the faith of Islam.